IMPACT
...of climate change on health in the Pacific Northwest
Last December, President Barack Obama met with other world leaders to discuss one of this century’s most important dilemmas—climate change—because of its inevitable consequences, such as eroding natural resources and adverse effects on human health.
Researchers predict that the impacts of climate change will vary from community to community across the country and the globe. Our department is working with leaders and policy makers to better understand potential future conditions in the Pacific Northwest, and to determine practices we can set in place now to avoid worst-case scenarios.
Last year, the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington (UW) released the most complete and up-to-date findings on the impacts of climate change in our region. Professors Michael Yost and Richard Fenske, Adjunct Assistant Professor Catherine Karr, and Research Scientist Cole Fitzpatrick were among the scientists who assessed public health concerns associated with climate change projections, and, in particular, the rates of illness and mortality with increased temperatures and worsening air quality.
Relatively short but intense heat waves over the last 30 years have been responsible for hundreds of deaths in the United States and Canada and thousands of deaths in Europe. Climate change projections suggest these events will become more frequent, more intense, and longer lasting in the 21st century. Some speculate the highest impact will be in cities that currently have milder summers, less air conditioning, and higher population density, which are all characteristic of the Pacific Northwest.
Fenske, acting chair of our department, was senior author of the climate change report section that documented higher levels of mortality during heat events in the greater Seattle area over the past 25 years. The authors also predicted significantly more heat- and air pollution-related deaths in Washington state in the years to come.
Preparing for climate change is essential at the state and local level because today’s choices will have long-term consequences. Significant time is required to develop and implement changes that may reduce the future impacts of climate change.
Last fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded a team of UW researchers from our department, Health Services, and Atmospheric Sciences nearly one million dollars over the next three years. The researchers will work with local communities to study health risks that will likely occur in the next 35 years and to develop strategies for how communities might reduce those risks.
“The information people hear about health impacts of climate change tends to be broad and without solid evidence,” said Fenske. “The public is told that these health impacts are occurring or are likely to occur in the near future. And the claims leave the public apprehensive, but with no clear direction on how to prepare.”
The evidence-based forecast of health impacts will “empower public health officials to develop specific plans of action to prevent health risks associated with climate change,” said Fenske, who will lead the CDC-funded project with Susan Allan, director of the UW Northwest Center for Public Health Practice and associate professor in the Department of Health Services.
According to Allan, “People are more likely to take action to protect health when they have data specific to their own community.” Allan noted that local communities will be active partners in shaping the research from the first stages of the project. “We want to make sure the particular risks and circumstances of the different groups in the community are included as part of modeling and community discussions.”
For further reading
The Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment Conference Executive Summary